I have some health challenges currently that I'm in part overcoming through rest and doing very little physically. I've paused a lot of activity (including the number of posts on this blog). FYI I provide a health update at the end of this post.
I miss my active life yet I'm grateful knowing it's only temporary. During this time of being immobilised I've invested a lot of energy in mediation and contemplation. Presently my feeling is that a lot of what I've paused I actually won't recommence or at very least there will be further nuancing of how I work in particular.
I have continued my long standing habit of reading a book a week. This one will make my top 21 recommending reading list.
It's a very brave and sobering book. The truth portrayed highly resonates with me.
Reading this book reaffirmed a conclusion I reached a very long time ago that politics is a broken system that is failing us.
One of my contemplations has been imagining a world where politics is about collaborations not driven by self-interest and where it's two major parties are more concerned about being right than doing the right thing (America, Australia). More about this in part four. I'm appalled by most aspects of American and Australian politics and believe citizens of both countries must be better served. Here in Australia the I'm right/your wrong or my way is better than yours of our political leaders has cost lives and destroyed many others.
Underpinning my contemplations has been the idea that we will look back at the period in history from 1989 when the Berlin Wall came down as a new renaissance
I've had a sense of a new world being born since I left the corporate world in 1990 and became a mentor for business leaders. A lot has changed in the past thirty+ years. I've become a lot more realistic about change that I can influence. Back them I was just a dreamer. Today I'm still a dreamer yet a being realist keeps me grounded.
The following process has emerged. We will explore personal philosophy in this post and the others in the subsequent three posts.
What's your personal philosophy?
A personal philosophy is your way of being.
It's not your opinions, beliefs or ideologies. They are what they are. The wisest way I have learned to live with them is lightly! This is because I change my mind regularly.
"When the facts change, I change my mind."
famous economist John Maynard Keynes
A personal philosophy is your moral compass. It's about who you are influencing all that you do.
A personal philosophy is your fundamental approach to life regardless of the situation or what other people do or don't do.
My personal philosophy is below. I'd love to know yours. Please write me ian@ianberry.biz
Ian Berry's Personal Philosophy
Be true to myself regardless of the situation.
Maintain an attitude of gratitude.
Less But Better.
Some notes for your reflection
"This above all - to thine own self be true"
Polonius to his son Laertes in Hamlet by William Shakespeare 1603
I first faced the life threatening illness of melanoma 45 years ago. It's an ongoing challenge (see a status update at the end of this piece). The first doctor to save my life recommended (before he operated) that I adopt an attitude of gratitude. It's become a life-long habit.
I've learned the truth behind the theory that happiness is not having what you want, rather being happy with what you have.
More generally I've learned a wonderful paradox that when we are grateful for what we have we can have more of what we want.
'
Essentialism' is a book I highly recommend. Essentialism is based on a philosophy of the famous German designer Dieter Rams weniger aber besser, translated
"less but better."
Two mentors introduced me to the book in 2015 and I spent a year with their help reinventing my practice and integrating this principle into who I am.
Adopting "less but better" and integrating it with all my life has been a game changer and a key with the other aspects of my personal philosophy of meeting my current health challenges.
My health update
Recently I developed some ulcerations on my right leg (where the melanoma is) that wouldn't heal. Walking became difficult. The good news I have personal care and treatment that means I'm slowly getting better in this regard. I'm not quite back to being able to take my daily walk yet I am able to get around and take a walk every few days.
Most recently the tablets I once took to keep my melanoma at bay stopped working and I began immunotherapy on September 2nd. So far so good. I'm having minimal side affects that are not a challenge. My second infusion is happening next week.
I've paused some pursuits and some of my complimentary and professional work but for a small amount of ongoing client work. The bottom line is that doing work we love with people who love what we do for them is good for our sanity and our soul.
I'm confident that I will return soon to pursuits I love. I'm very grateful to the support of those of you receiving this who have previously been aware of my situation.
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